33 comments:

The debate of the Confederate history month though controversial, I feel could really be beneficial. In the first video I watched on this topic I completely believe in what this guy is saying. I feel like this is a good idea and like he said if you have to explain to someone that slavery is a bad thing it goes without saying. Like in the video we watched in class as well how the woman said they aren’t celebrating confederacy necessarily they are just trying to get the southern point of view out there and educate the people about what all happened. Also in the second video I watched there was an African-American business owner from Richmond, Virginia who said that remembering the past is a good thing and that the Confederacy was a part of Virginia’s past and they needed to remember it so that it wouldn’t happen again. In the last video I watched where the Virginias were divided on the topic and when Iman Shabazz said that this is not something that a rational man can celebrate I feel that he is wrong. I feel that like Matthew Whitworth said they are trying to show how Virginia has moved on and changed and how far they have come since that time. Also like I said before in my opinion they aren’t celebrating the Confederacy they are educating the pubic on the Southern point of view. This Confederacy month is a definite good idea, yea it offends a lot of people and is really controversial but it is a part of Americas history, and a large part at that. I feel that we should defiantly keep this as somehow part of our country to remember what happened. Sorry I forgot the past 2 Q.O.W.s.

"CNN Political Ticker: All Politics, All the Time Blog Archive - Gov: Concern over Slavery Omission ‘doesn’t Amount to Diddly’ « - Blogs from CNN.com." CNN Political Ticker: All Politics, All the Time - Blogs from CNN.com. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. .

The civil war in America was a war that determined slavery in the future. Even though Virginia wants to educate people about the history of Virginia. I believe that its a good thing to educate people about it, because some people don’t know about the confederate side. Though someone said in class that the losing country doesn’t write the history. This is a really good point because they lost the war so why should the confederates be recognized. “The world to visit Virginia for the Sesquicentennial Anniversary of the Civil War.”(McDonnell 2010). McDonnell is saying that since it happened in Virginia he wants tourist to go to Virginia to see were the civil war took place. Also McDonnell failed to mention anything about slavery in his proclamation, slavery was the purpose of the war and McDonnell mentions nothing about slavery. “ But earlier, McDonnell told the Washington Post that slavery was not "significant" enough to be included in the proclamation.”(Wing 2010) Also, why should we be recognizing people that wanted to have slavery in America. I think that is very absurd. Yea I believe that Virginia should educate more people about the civil war but not recognize the people that were ok with slavery. Overall this proposal by McDonnell is a bad idea, because it doesn’t recognize the fact that this war was about slavery, and they just want to recognize confederates that wanted slavery.

I can understand the idea of remembering and acknowledging the confederates side of the civil war, but not necessarily as a celebration. It’s true that, not many people, including myself, don’t know very much about the confederates viewpoint during the time, except for that they were fighting for slavery and that they eventually lost. I think the better idea would be to teach students a lot more in depth about what the south was going through at the time and their culture. Also about why they were really fighting. Not everyone that owned a slave or supported slavery was racist. They supported it because they thought that if they didn’t have slaves their economy would plummet I’m not trying excuse the fact that slavery was horrible and demeaning , but most people born in the south knew no other way. It was the way they were raised. The thing that I found wrong about Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proclamation was the fact that he left out slavery. He never mentioned it almost as to try to hide it away. I can somewhat see where he’s coming from, but to try to completely ignore the very basis of the entire confederate idea is like a slap in the face to those slaves that lived through it and also to their ancestors. Overall, I don’t think it’s a good idea. If the entire state of Virginia agreed with it and only wanted it to be acknowledged in their state then It wouldn’t be much of a problem, but obviously that’s not the case. An example would be the video of the Virginian student Matthew Whitworth who is for it, and Iman Shabazz, vice chairman for the Richmond Peace Education Center who is against it. Besides, it’s almost like celebrating rebellion against the American government( which can be debated to be either a positive or negative act to a certain point) and the reason for one of the bloodiest wars in American history. Yes for further acknowledge of the confederate viewpoints at such pivotal point in our country’s history and , but no to a celebration of it.

I don’t think that we should celebrate Confederate History Month. The reason being, is that too many African Americans will always think of it as a slavery celebration, when really it’s not about slavery at all. It’s supposed to “highlight the history of the commonwealth of Virginia and because it shows our roll in the Confederacy and in the Civil War.” “It is important to show America the progress Virginia has made.” says Matthew Whitworth. I completely agree with him. Virginia has made very great progress, but then again, so has every other state, and they don’t have a certain history month that they want to implement. America wasn’t the first country to have slavery. People here (in America) need to get over the fact that we USED to have slavery. There’s a key word there. USED to have slavery. That was over 200 years ago, we don’t need to keep “crying” over it. Yes, it was terrible and most definitely wasn’t the best thing to happen in our country. The fact that Virginians want a Confederate History Month just offends some if not most African Americans, because the Confederacy fought for slavery to NOT be abolished. Bob McDonnell, Governor of Virginia, says that “The Confederate History Month proclamation issued was solely intended to promote the study of our history, encourage tourism in our state in advance of the 150th Anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, and recognize Virginia’s unique role in the story of America.” That does make sense, but still, you have people who are going to be offended with the face that Virginia was (and still is) a Southern state that used to have slavery. I say forget about Confederate History Month and move off of the slavery issue.

when they say that they are celebrating confederacy I think that all they are doing is teaching what happened and its not a celebration at all. they just want to inform everybody so they know what happened or so they dont forget. i was totally surprised that Bob McDonnell didnt mention slavery at all and i think that he should have mentioned it. I think that they shouldnt call it a celebration and just say that it is information that they are giving to you. Its funny how Bob wants tourists to go to virginia and see were everything took place but never mentions anything about slavery what the hell is that all about.

My opinion on Virginia having confederate month is okay as long as it isn’t in California, but if it was in California then I would say that they should have some rules and boundaries on some things like what they say and what they teach. African Americans also have to understand that confederacy no longer exists and that black people are no longer slaves. I had watched the video with the man named Ronnie and he brought up a great point that African Americans have no reason to argue about it when it is no longer like that anymore. He also had said that it’s a part if our history and we can just ignore it and say it never existed when it really did. So I personally think that the African Americans of Virginia that don’t agree with confederate month are over reacting because it’s no longer like that anymore and it is a part of Americas history that we can’t wash away.

Confederate Month to me is a good idea. I believe that having something like that would help educate the people that have no idea why its so important.In one video I just watched, the man was African-American but he believes that having Confedrate Month would help people understand more about the history of Vrignia. Having this month doesn't mean that its going to educate people about the bad things that went on. Its about learning and understanding the important things that went on. That no one would get made over. Most people think Confederate Month is all about the "white people", when I believe its more about the types of lifes they lived. -citedhttp://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/04/09/natpkg.confederate.month.black.va.cnn?iref=allsearch

I’m not really sure how I feel about the whole situation. In a way it’s a good thing I wouldn’t use the word “celebrate” because I feel that it’s more of a teaching and memorial for those who fought and to teach the young generation what really happened that day. On the other half I don’t feel like it’s a good thing because I found out a lot of African Americans are pretty much offended of this because the governor of virgina who announced this failed to mention anything about slavery. African Americans played a BIG role in this and I agree that they should be mentioned and recognized

My thoughts about Confederate history is that it will bring up some many different opinions because of the controversial topic of slavery. One of the main reasons why we had a war was because the abolition of slavery. However, slavery was left out of Confederate history month. Most people think that it should be included because it was one of the main reasons of the Confederacy.But,it not to celebrate this month but educate in this month. As Governor Bob McDonnell added, ""The Confederate History Month proclamation issued was solely intended to promote the study of our history, encourage tourism in our state in advance of the 150th Anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, and recognize Virginia's unique role in the story of America." And I think that the sole reason is to educate about this time period and not to celebrate this time period.

What I think about what is going on with the whole Confederate month stuff is just a bunch of load of crap. I honestly believe just like Roland Martin says that all we are proving is that we are just simply honoring “American terrorist”. The whole idea of even wanting a confederate month to me is just simply ludicrous. I find it quite funny that Mary Matalin the lady he is speaking to talks about wanting to celebrate some sort of “heritage..food..culture”, she speaks as if the south was a completely different country. I’m sorry, but when she talks about food is she talking about “soul food”? because I highly doubt that confederate people started making soul food, correct me if I am wrong but I believe the creators of soul food were the people they hated the most. Also, the fact the Virginian governor didn’t even bother to mention slavery as part as the confederate so-called culture, In my opinion it just goes to shows you how ignorant he really is. Slavery is not some little fact of history that occurred in this country, it is very real. The Governor of Virginia should think about that one, and he should also see how he really has offended many people. I have heard some people in class say how we should just forget about it, and not worry about what Virginia wants to do with said month. Well I really think that instead forgetting about it we should acknowledge it for what it really is an act of ignorance, in my eyes at least.

The accusations of confederate history month is completely stupid. The fact that there trying to justify it, is ridiculous. There trying to dodge slavery and say that there trying to teach about the heritage(CNN) and when you think about it, was there a great part of it. this is like if the Germans try to make a nazi month and say we are teaching about heritage. they need to stop looking through there ignorant eyes and see what the country sees.

At first when we talked in class about whether or not the confederacy history month was a good thing to have, my first opinion was a no. Why would we want anything to do with slavery? It was a horrible thing and no person deserves to be a slave. But then I thought maybe it’s a time to show respect to all those that had to be a slave, those that were disrespected and had to go through all that pain, suffering and hard work. Until I realized that this confederate history month had nothing to even do with the slaves. Its all about showing where Virginia came from, mainly their point of view on the war. Honestly I’d have to agree with what Mathew Whitworth said in the video I had watched. He had brought up the fact that, why do we have to get all worked up on slavery when we bring up confederacy. It’s true, yes why would we have a celebration about a time that was horrid for people. Well they don’t mean to make it go anywhere towards slavery. They just want to show everyone their part of the history, their story. Is that really all that bad? In my opinion, if Virginia wants it, then let it be. I don’t see it effecting anyone else in any way, except those that bring on that effect to themselves. Every other day we celebrate something, and I wouldn’t doubt a terrible thing happened that exact day, but we still celebrate it, correct? Horrible things happen, we have to learn to just move on.

Ukpono UdiGov. P. 2Confederate History Month I think that as Americans we have the right to celebrate whatever we wish. We as Americans are different cultured people and celebrate different things that may not be understood by others. However, when you start to offend another culture because of what has occurred between the two cultures it starts to be tricky. Now this I feel is not the case because the complaint is that there seem to be celebrating slavery. The defense to that is, no there just educating their state on how confederates lived and slavery is not a part on what their tying to educate on. Now I agree that you can’t have a Confederate History Month without talking about slavery, but we have no choice but to allow them to celebrate their culture in the manner they feel pleasing. There is no reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to do so in peace without the hassle of others especially if no one in the state has a problem with it. The only way I can see it being offensive and ceasing this history month is because they re enact slavery or slave torturing. Other than that we tend to take too much offense to what has happened in the past. Now if it starts to abuse African American culture then we have to step in and interject. I know this issue sparks up the major issue of racism but we shouldn’t let it then it becomes something it was never meant to be. If something is it will be and we will see it be, but if it’s not let us believe it’s not until proven it is without a doubt. Works CitedConfederate Month: Part of Heritage. Dir. KCRA. 2010.

Considering the aspects of Confederate History Month discussed in class today , I believe it is a bad idea. Many people see it differently, many see as racist and others just see it as a celebration of history. They don't even mention slavery and just try to put it aside and try to cover it by saying that they are just trying to teach about heritage (CNN). I was surprised that Bob McDonnell didnt mention slavery at all and i think that he should have mentioned it. But then again if the state of Virginia wants to do it, then we should let them as long as they don't try to make the rest of us do it.

The confederate month is a month to remember and be educated. Also to learn what happen in those days. So I think that the confederate month a good idea. I don’t think it’s a good idea because it doesn’t include everything that has to do with :confederate month“. Although if is a good idea because today in days there’s people that have been leaving under a rocks. They don’t know what is so special of that specific time. So if this :confederate month” happens then those people will be educated and learn new things. However so far I still think its not a good idea if they don’t include everything that happen in those days. Because e then we wont be educated correctly. Which maybe the big point wasn’t slavery. But it did take a part so we should take it consideration slavery if its not then I don’t think it’s a good idea. Like this person “but anybody who thinks that slavery is a bad thing – I think goes without saying.”(Stewart 2010).So for this reason salary should be include it, because it’s a bad thing. Where we can be educated.

MLA:Stewart, Martina. "CNN Political Ticker: All Politics, All the Time Blog Archive - Gov: Concern over Slavery Omission ‘doesn’t Amount to Diddly’ « - Blogs from CNN.com." CNN Political Ticker: All Politics, All the Time - Blogs from CNN.com. 11 Apr. 2010. Web. 17 Apr

I think that the Confederate history month is unnecessary. In the videos and on the news they say that it is meant to teach about the confederacy, but so far its mostly just spread controversy through America. Besides, if anybody was interested in learning about the confederacy, there are many other ways that they could do it, such as looking in history books or researching on the internet. I think that the idea of confederate history month has upset more people that it will ever educate, so they might as well just get rid of it.

Stewart, Martina. "CNN Political Ticker: All Politics, All the Time Blog Archive - Gov: Concern over Slavery Omission ‘doesn’t Amount to Diddly’ Blogs from CNN.com." CNN Political Ticker: All Politics, All the Time - Blogs from CNN.com. 11 Apr. 2010. Web. 17 April, 2010.

My opinion and my thoughts about the Confederate Month of History for me I is really important. I really don’t know to much of the Confederate Month, but on the videos that I saw and what Mr. Palo say, it seen really important. I saw some videos clips, one of them was were Ronnie Logan, from Richmond, Virginia. He say that is important to recognize the Confederate Month , because is part of are history. I was saying to my self if they did not have some one to tell us what is happening around us, we will not know anything of who we are. For example, they have been so many problems on terrorism if we don’t know them we will not know how to fix them, or how to prebent of not happening again. Like he say” history is part of are life, because is tell us who we are.” Other of the clips that I saw was about a guy name Sandy Andrew, he say that it was hard to forget what happened on the Confederate , is important to educate the people on what happened. I like the way how on the video they are showing some parts of how they are people showing the students how and were the war took place.. Its so cool, to see all that, well if I were in that group of students I will be so exited to know what happened on Confederate Month. On my own opinion I believe that is a good Idea to celebrate the Confederate Month, because is part of are history and is important to celebrate for those people who make some big changes on history and give their life to protect are country. Other people they do not agree on celebrating the Confederate Month., but those how life is always will be people who do not agree on good stuff.

I personally don't think that these months named after events in history do anything outside of school. I don't know why it turned into such a big deal. In a few months no one will be even able to tell which month Confederate history month falls on. I certainly wouldn't be able to. Why should it be given a whole month anyways. There are more important events in history to spend a whole month remembering.If we choose more interesting and more tribal events to name months after people might actuality take them seriously. People who are protesting this idea, for the reason of it disrespecting what human rights were accomplished, even saying that this would be equivalent to celebrating the Holocaust. I personally don't think it's that deep of a plot. I could care less if this month turns into Confederate history month, and if it did I'm sure it wouldn't be celebrating how Americans at one point thought slavery was right. In today's world racism is merely hard to come by and what people think racism is, it isn't.

This declaration of Confederate History month has created a good amount of controversy. And I think it's just unnecessary controversy. I mean people dont't talk about it anymore, so why touch those strings. It's not bad to talk about it, but the video that we watched in class talked about whether we are educating or celebrating it. The video had a couple discussing and giving information about it, and another guy, who was debating with the reporter about the issue of slavery. I think there is no need to educate people about it, because in school upto colleges, we are taught about it and expalined what actually happened. And I don't think there is anything to celebrate, ofcourse. I don't see any other important reason, or need to do this. Beacuse those two things, which are "Educating," or, "Celebrating," are the only possible reasons for this. Talking about slavery all over again is not a good idea, what are you trying to say? That slavery should have been legal, or should be legal? No, even if you come up with some reasons in favor of slavery like, "It helped the economy," or something, still slavery is illegal, and wrong morally and ethically.There is nothing we can blame to people of Virginia, but the Governor? MAybe he did the right thing, remember it, relive it. But this is not one of those moments which you want to relive or celebrate. But the argument that comes up is that, we cannot ignore it too, afterall it's a part of American history. Agreed, but it will only create more tension to relive it. Another thing that comes up is that the governor will talk about the slavery in detail, he will talk about what people doesn't know. Really? Is he going to touch on every detail? I don't think so.

"CNN Political Ticker: All Politics, All the Time Blog Archive - Gov: Concern over Slavery Omission ‘doesn’t Amount to Diddly’ « - Blogs from CNN.com." CNN Political Ticker: All Politics, All the Time - Blogs from CNN.com. Web. 14 Apr. 2010.

Confederate month is a good idea, there's nothing wrong with their side of the story. It'll be new and a rebel thing to learn in a sense but we have look back at our history in a way. In school we even touch upon Hitler and his vile acts but the Confederate state sole purpose for war, well one of them was for money. Ronnie the man from Virginia was fine with the idea of the Confederate month. I don't see much trouble with it minus the how is it going to be taught. People see the Confederate states are seen as bad because of what they stood for. The second video I watched made it clear that they wanted to teach people for the better but when the idea was announced the main idea of slavery was not told of. The goal to teach to teach not to offend but either way they were going to hit the nerves of people. Roland Martin tends to overact. He sees it as a celebration to the lack of civil rights and cruelty to others. His light to subjects is critical so he can't see that it's good to look at the past.Well in my opinion we should allow it and see how it'll be.

I think that having a confederate history month is like celebrating slavery,in the video i watched they want to do this to educate others too show what happend. But when bob mcdonnel doesnt mention slavery, others see it like its racist and others as if it has nothing to do with slavey. But when people hear about this the first thing they think about is slavery. thats what i thought when i heard about it. people might think its racist and that there just bringing back something people wanted to forget about and just put it all behind them.

I think that Confederate history month is completly stupid. Why would we want to relive and make a day that killed alot of people in between our country? Channel E news said that "this month is going to cause conflict and dangerous problems". Why all of the sudden we have this when we get a black president? Why would we make a month for something that has lost it's values. What also makes more mad is that in our class we discussed that they didn't even mention slavery? I mean baiscly the whole war was about it. Honestly they should honestly have nation Vote and review and what they're causeing. I think it's very bad idea and they should put a stop it. Nabeel haffar

No, I don’t believe that Confederate month should be celebrated. I think a day should be dedicated to all those that gave their lives. Its promoting slavery if a month were to be celebrated for Confederates. However, people need to be educated on why the war began. In the speech they don’t mention slavery though that was the reason it began. There’s no day dedicated to those that fought in WW1 or WW2 so why make a day for the civil war? Yes this ended slavery but by promoting it and ignoring the entire topic of slavery its as though were trying to ignore why we fought.

The issue of confederate history month is very controversial, and i feel that it is unnecessary. I also find it very offensive that slavery is not mentioned. If it were meant to educate people about or country's history then then why are we only focusing on the confederate side of the civil war. The other day in class Fatema Marvi came up with a better solution in my opinion. Why not have a civil war month? With a civil war month everything can be discussed without any topic being left out. We have already learned these topics through our education and i do not think we should have confederate history month.

In my opinion i think that we shouldn't celebrate confederate month. The reason why is because in my mind it will offend the African American race. I mean don't get me wrong we should learn about the side of the confederate but everyone will only really think about the slavery. In this article it says "Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's apologized on Wednesday for declaring April as "Confederate History Month," but failing to mention slavery anywhere in his proclamation." The Governer in my opinion was trying not to talk about slavery because he knew it would offend a lot of people which it did. So in conclusion i think that confederate month is a bad idea and shouldn't be celebrated.

I feel that the idea of confederate history month is some what a good idea, but at the same time it is a bad idea. The fact that the the proclamation excludes slavery is ridiculous. Slavery was one of the main reasons why the civil war occured. If they are going to celebrate confederate history they need to include all of the of the facts. And the people that are saying this is racist need to stop. "This is a part of our history just as much as black history month"- Stephanie Elmes. We need to teach this part of our history more in depth. We need to teach the southern part of the story. I don't consider this racist in anyway and whoever does in my opinion is ignorant.

I think that it is a bit cruel to want to dedicate a month in honor of confederate history. We could simply teach these of the past behavior without glorifying it for a month. I understand that this is a part of history but the students need to learn that the past behavior was wrong and that slavery is "an evil and inhumane practice", but the schools can teach that on their own time and not have an entire month honoring the racism (McDonnell). But McDonnell states that the confederate history "should not be forgotten, but instead should be studied, understood, and remembered". He even understands that slavery is evil, but I don't understand how one can simply take slavery out of confederate history, being that it was based on slavery. Schools need to learn history and about slavery, but not in a glorified manner, we need to learn this only to see our nations mistake and to prevent it from ever happening again. In short, confederate history should not have it's own month to be celebrated.

Kaitlyn Morales Period 4

Works Cited"CNN Political Ticker: All Politics, All the Time Blog Archive - Gov: Concern over Slavery Omission ‘doesn’t Amount to Diddly’ « - Blogs from CNN.com." CNN Political Ticker: All Politics, All the Time - Blogs from CNN.com. Web. 17 Apr. 2010. .

Confederate History Month sounds like a horrible idea to me, especially because slavery was completely left out. Slavery, whether some people want to believe it or not, was a major factor of the Civil War, and omitting that fact is offensive. A “Proclamation” to educate people about the Confederates seems unnecessary because Americans are taught about it starting from elementary school up to college, and having a month commemorating those events sounds more like a celebration for a painful time in American history. As Sheila Johnson says, “The complete omission of slavery from an official government document, which purports to be a call for Virginians to 'understand' and 'study' their history, is both academically flawed and personally offensive.” If the point is to educate, then why is such an important factor like slavery left out? Also, the Confederacy has become a sign for white supremacists and extreme racism. When a person hears “the Confederate”, most likely the first thing to come to their mind is slavery and racism. Of course, the Civil War is an important part of history and should be told from the point of view of both sides but, the Confederate is not deserving of having a month dedicated to it.

When it comes to celebrating Confederate History Month it turns out to be a very controversial issue from both opposing sides. Its taken offensive by the African Americans since it dealt with slavery. They see it as if they were celebrating the fact there was slavery. They don’t understand that the reason they do it is to educate the people of what Confederate History Month is all about. They want to be able to tell the people their side of the story because when there is a war only the winning side can tell the story. This is why I think that celebrating this is a good idea, I understand it may be offensive for some people but the Civil War wasn’t simply fought because of slavery. There were many other factors that led to the war and in fact they were fighting over state rights. The slavery issue didn’t come in or made totally illegal until the Civil war was well underway and in its second or third year. I just feel that the Confederates want to get their part of the story out there and celebrate their history and show the progress Virginia made, and that should be okay as long as they don’t degrade anyone. Frankly I believe that if we have Black History Month to celebrate them, then why can’t the Confederates have a month as well to celebrate their culture? Just like the video called “Roland Martin: Month Honors Terrorist,” the lady, Mary Matalin says that’s it’s a way to celebrate their culture and food, and she says its not that they are celebrating that they once had slaves or that they were fighting to keep slaves. This was an issue that happened so long ago and we should look at the part where we made progress and congradulate ourselfs. This is why i think it's okay for us to celebrate Confederate History Month.

I personally am welcome to the idea of having a Confederate History Month. The though of having one doesn't really affect nor offend me in any way. I honestly dont think theres anything wrong with it, assuming that its more focused on educating people about the Confederates than simply celebrating them. I think its stupid that people believe that anyone who follows or agrees with having a Confederate History Month is racist. But what really ticks me off is that many of those who oppose this use the words slavery and racism as though they are the same word. There is a vast difference between wishing to own a slave so that you can make a better living for yourself and being a racist and simply hating someone based upon skin color. This whole thing has been so blow out of porportion and so mixed up in talks of racism that its really going to take alot of stuggle to be able to get this to work. Now I know that a major arguementive point is the senators absence of slavery when talking about why Virgina joined the Conferates. I believe he did that because he wanted people to know that there is more to the Confederates than simply wanting to keep slavery. I mean, do you honestly think it would have made any difference in public reaction even if he had included the slavery issue into his speach? THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN!!!

About the Confederate history month, I wouldn’t really care if it did pass. The whole argument is that it didn’t mention slavery, but why does it have to? I mean everyone knows that slavery was a big factor in the civil war so how can anybody leave that out of the history lesson the Confederate Month is going to hold? So I watched the video about “Why include slavery in the Proclamation?” I love what the guy asked in the end. “How do you learn from history without appearing to honor the victor or the vanquished unfairly?” ("Why include slavery in proclamation?") and the other guy answers, “…by teaching the truth.” ("Why include slavery in proclamation?") What he said was lovely because as much as people may get offended over the topic of slavery, we as a country cannot deny that slavery did not exist. Okay so now I don’t know where I’m going with this, but in our history we don’t only get to learn the things we want to, we learn everything we need to know; the situation, the struggle, the victory, the loss, and then some. Should we include slavery in the proclamation? No because there’s no need to point out something that we all know is there.

To have a Confederate History Month is completely unnecessary. Yes it gives people the chance to understand where the south is coming from and where they stood during the civil war, but in the eyes of many people, especially African Americans, it is viewed as something horrid and negative. Although slavery was not the only reason why the civil war took place, it was one of the main reasons. To have this "Confederate History Month" is almost as if slavery is apart of this celebration. Their are others ways to express the South's side of the story. For example, why is it not a Civil war month? That way, we can see both sides equally without anyone being offended. Furthermore, by Governor McDonnell failing to even mention slavery makes it seem as if he was trying hiding his true feelings toward it. Of course, it was not until after people became angered that he finally decided to state that slavery was "evil and inhumane practice" (Falcone and Wing 2010. Why could not he have mentioned it the first time? I am all for celebrating history and viewing both sides of the story, but it is not right to me that he did not even have the audacity to mention slavery. If he did the first time, and made it crystal clear to our country that his intentions were not to celebrate slavery in any way, then my opinion might have been different. Slavery will always be a touchy subject and even though having this "Confederate History Month" may be "innocent", I do not think it is the right manner to express the South's side of the story. Although I may not know McDonnell's full side of the story as to why he decided to have this, I do know right from wrong, and to me this is definitely wrong and offensive. McDonnell even told the Washington Post that "slavery was not "significant" enough to be included in the proclamation.”(Falcone and Wing 2010). To me this says enough about him, and shows that he could care less if anyone became offended. Attempting to sugarcoat it by simply saying that slavery was "evil and inhumane" was not a good enough apology.

A war that would determine slavery for the future. The Civil War was a war that took place between the North, and the South. To celebrate a war that happened in our country against our own people is just crazy. To have confederate month can be racist to some, but other may like it. Tell me one thing, "What would we celebrate for a month on the war?" even though some may think it's not racist, they think they are education the people about what happened, and who did what. It could go either way, it is not a bad idea to educate. But is that the main intention. In the video, they state that 19,000 African Americans fought on the confederacy side. At the end, my opinion is that it can be a little racist to celebrate confedercy month. A point that was never brought up until our first African American president. There's something to think about..

About Me

I currently reside in Anaheim and have been teaching at La Sierra High School since 2005. I currently teach US History, American Government and World History. I am the head baseball coach at La Sierra, and I use the field as my second classroom.